No insurance? Man travels abroad for medical care

Diana Rossetti

Friday

Feb 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMFeb 27, 2009 at 5:14 AM

Six months ago, Henry Konczak was a healthy guy. Doctors had discovered a heart murmur when he was a youngster, but that did not keep the 56-year-old from a regular program of weight training and treadmill exercise in his home gym.

Six months ago, Henry Konczak was a healthy guy.

Doctors had discovered a heart murmur when he was a youngster, but that did not keep the 56-year-old from a regular program of weight training and treadmill exercise in his home gym.

“I ate Cheerios with skim milk for a long time,” Konczak said. “I took pretty good care with myself.”

Things changed when he contracted a streptococcal infection that damaged his heart.

After completing a long course of antibiotics for the infection, Konczak’s cardiologist told him he needed a mitral valve repair. Time, he was told, was of the essence.

Costly procedure

The news threw the self-employed owner of Henry J. Productions into a tailspin.

He had no health insurance. The antibiotic treatment already had cost him $10,000. And a surgery estimate provided by The Cleveland Clinic was $130,000, not including the surgeon’s fee.

“I was self-pay. So I began researching medical travel on the Internet. I was hoping I’d go to Costa Rica but it turns out India is the cheapest for hearts. I guess they have people over there who have heart damage from rheumatic fever so they do a lot of surgeries,” Konczak said.

What he found was a medical travel company that could book his travel and surgery with Dr. Naresh Trehan at New Delhi’s Apollo Hospital. When he learned that surgical scheduling waned near Christmas, his decision was made. He sent his records and took a conference call with his Indian surgeon.

The last-minute decision to fly to India for the surgery made a bargain flight impossible. Still, with full-fare flights for Konczak and girlfriend, Heather Andres, six nights in a five-star hotel after the surgery, two weeks in the hospital and the surgeon’s fee, the total cost of the trip was $22,000.

“It was about saving my business and not being bankrupt. I couldn’t fake chest pains and get help in an emergency room. I just couldn’t do that,” he said.

On the 15-hour direct flight from Newark to India on Dec. 20, there was plenty of time to ponder his decision.

Two days later, he was wheeled into surgery. Konczak said he had confidence in Trehan, who had been cardiologist to the president of India during the 1990s and had taught in New York for eight years.

Time to spare

The four-hour surgery, he recalled, was minimally invasive.

“They came in through a rib. They didn’t have to crack my chest,” he said. “But they did see that they needed to replace a valve, not just repair it. The new one is mechanical and covered in tissue,” said Konczak.

Heather was given a bed in her boyfriend’s room, staying with him except for three days post-surgery. He estimates his scar is 5 inches long.

He will continue blood-thinning medication for three months. Trehan told him that in 15 years, he might need another surgery to reline the valve. The technology already is available.

Following a two-week hospital stay, Konczak and his girlfriend did some sight-seeing. They returned Jan. 6.

Reflecting on the experience, he is philosophical but realistic.

“It’s really tough, very hard, being in a foreign country with the language barrier. The doctors and nurses speak perfect English. But the support staff was hard to communicate with. It was stressful.

“Basically, everybody said you don’t have a choice. What are you going to do? As people lose their insurance,” Konczak said, “what are they going to do?”

Have a question for Henry?

He is willing to answer questions from anyone contemplating medical travel. E-mail him at hjptvcom@gmail.com

A cardiologist comments

“It’s known that with advances in medicine and technology there are quite a few procedures done in different countries all over the world,” said Mercy Medical Center’s Dr. Ahmed A. El Ghamry Sabe, Mercy Heart Center medical director. “There are actually well-experienced doctors who went back to their home countries and set up a practice where they operate and do a lot of good work.”

A good surgical outcome, he continued, depends not only on the surgeon but on the medical professionals who provide pre- and post-operative care.

“Close your eyes and imagine if a complication takes place. It will trigger quite a consulting team with all their back-up supports. A patient can get a stroke, have a problem with bleeding, need a blood transfusion, get an infection and have renal and lung problems. It is the supportive team that makes you better prepared for what is coming because complications are not uncommon, even when you have everything in place.”

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